Merkel’s migrant problem

HEIDENAU, Germany — After keeping a studied silence about the anti-migrant violence in eastern Germany the past week, Angela Merkel went to visit this town near Dresden on Wednesday to show her sympathy with the asylum seekers. The locals gave her a rough reception, indicating that her open-door policy on immigration is running into stern resistance.

“Politicians, lowlifes!” yelled one man among the booing crowd when the normally popular German chancellor descended from her limousine and turned to wave — from a safe distance — to locals in Heidenau, the scene of protests against asylum seekers last week that turned violent. “There’s money for everything, but not for your own people,” came another angry shout.

Merkel dropped her hand and continued with her tour as if nothing had happened — following what critics say has been a pattern of behavior in the increasingly heated debate. For historical reasons, few issues rouse uncomfortable emotion in Germany like immigrants and their place in society.

“We have no tolerance towards those who are not willing to help,” Merkel told reporters after visiting the asylum shelter, which is in a former hardware store on an arterial road about 20 minutes from the historic center of Dresden.

After a spate of arson attacks this year against such shelters, anti-immigrant protesters last Friday clashed with police in Heidenau during a demonstration against the imminent arrival of a new batch of refugees.

The incident sparked another outpouring of angst about how to respond to a record influx of refugees, which is expected to quadruple this year to 800,000, testing the country’s liberal laws on asylum.

The mayor of the town spoke out against xenophobia in his community, but Merkel said very little until the following Monday. By that time the hashtags #Merkelschweigt (Merkel remains silent) and #Merkelsagwas, (Merkel, say something) had started trending on Twitter.

Merkel addresses reporters in Heidenau, Wednesday August 26

The leader of the Social Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partners, beat Merkel to the political high ground on this issue, traveling to Heidenau on Monday. Newspaper front pages urged the chancellor to “break her silence.” When she did, later on Monday, she said: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the violent outbursts.”

On Tuesday, following yet another arson attack — this time on a shelter under construction near Berlin — she announced a visit to Heidenau. Mindful that her awkward encounter with a tearful refugee girl during a Q&A session with schoolchildren last month, which went viral on social media, Merkel’s media handlers allowed no cameras or reporters to be present when she chatted with the asylum-seekers in Heidenau.

The crowd of about 250 protesters gathered opposite were a mixed bag of concerned citizens and people with openly anti-immigrant feelings.

Stefanie E., who asked to be identified only by her first name and initial as is common in media interviews in Germany, had come from the nearby town of Dohra to hear what the chancellor had to say. She was as critical of the anti-immigrant violence as she was of the politicians’ response. She admitted to feeling “scared” at the arrival of so many refugees.

‘May I spit on you?’

“Right-wing extremists are really bad, but Islamists are even worse,” said Constantin Gürkoff, a 75-year-old retired electrician. He said repeatedly that he had nothing against refugees but was concerned about the potential culture clash, citing what he called hostility towards women among Muslim migrants. When asked about Angela Merkel, his voice got louder: “That woman is a bloody lethargic — just sitting things out.”

Overall in Germany, the population appears to support the idea of providing shelter to people fleeing persecution or violence in their homeland. In a poll by public broadcaster ZDF, 60 percent said they believed the country could cope with the arrivals.

Compared with many other European countries, right-wing extremism is a fringe phenomenon and groups like the far-right National Democrats (NPD) are not represented in the federal parliament. However, the eastern state of Saxony, where Heidenau is located, is an NPD stronghold.

The human rights organizations Pro Asyl and the Amadeu Antonio Foundation say the state had more racist violent crime in 2014 than any other state, despite also having one of the lowest percentages of immigrants in the country.

It may not have been much consolation to Merkel, but the protesters in Heidenau were equally hostile to the media, whom they denounced loudly as “Lügenpresse” — lying press, a term of abuse that has been revived by the grassroots movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident), which sprang up in Dresden last year. In June, it took nearly 10 percent of the vote in the city’s mayoral elections.

When a television journalist asked one shouting woman if she could ask her a question, the woman’s companion replied: “May I spit on you?”

“When we’re naked, we’re all the same, right?” — Jutta E., protester

Another right-wing party, Alternative for Germany, which was founded in 2013, has won seats in the European Parliament and German state assemblies, especially in the former communist east, mixing Euroskepticism with calls for restrictions on immigration.

Saxony and other eastern states where the far-right thrives are also redoubts of nostalgia for the days of the German Democratic Republic, when the state provided jobs, housing, health care and schooling and immigration was almost unknown.

“During the GDR, we had everything here,” said Jutta E., a 55-year-old former leather worker who now relies on a disability pension and some income from house cleaning. She was one of the few people in Heidenau speaking out for the asylum-seekers, telling POLITICO: “When we’re naked, we’re all the same, right?”

The interview was interrupted by a man and his grown-up son mouthing racist insults. “People here are so frustrated, you can’t talk to them,” said Jutta.

Earlier this month Anja Reschke, anchor of the investigative TV magazine “Panorama,” used prime-time TV to issue an impassioned plea for “an uprising of the decent.” On Facebook, the video was viewed almost 10 million times and shared more than 200,000 times and she received a flood of fan mail.

Hassan Husseini, an 18-year-old from Afghanistan who lives in Heidenau refugee center, said he can hear angry shouts of protesters from outside when night falls. He is glad to have made it to Germany, but admits: “I’m a little nervous now.”

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agx

Dear Gemans, probably you should change your goverments to goverment who will listen to you. Otherwise you should start to learn slavic languages – it wll be useful after escape from Caliphate of Berlin.

nollac

Racist protesters are loud, but luckily they are a tiny, powerless minority.

In Erfurt, East Germany I saw the better part of Germany yesterday. One guest of honour at a FDP reception was an asylum seeker from Syria. A friendly young pharmacist.

The liberals from FDP (ALDE) accepted him, as they accept every other decent person and welcomed him with applause.

Even more, Thomas Kemmerich, the local head of FDP Erfurt asks for refugees to settle in his home state. The East of Germany suffers so much from a loss of population that many public services like doctors, schools etc. cannot be provided local anymore.

Refugee’s could help to bring population back to a niveau where public services vcan be provided at a sustainable level.

Posted on 8/27/15 | 8:07 AM CEST

gringo

“Hassan Husseini, an 18-year-old from Afghanistan who lives in Heidenau refugee center, said he can hear angry shouts of protesters from outside when night falls. He is glad to have made it to Germany, but admits: “I’m a little nervous now.”
—–
Well, I’m a little nervous too. Why are we risking life of our soldiers (to make sure the Hussan’s sisters may safely get to school) and invest millions in reconstruction of this country (to provide Hussan’s mother with a water supply well), if he choose to ditch his family and country instead to help protect and to develop it??

Simona

Dear neighbours. it is nice that 60% of your citizens want to accept refugees. Only new election to your parliament can say the true.

Posted on 8/27/15 | 1:43 PM CEST

ExLiberal

Uh, it’s GERMANY’s problem more than it is Merkel’s.

Posted on 8/27/15 | 2:21 PM CEST

Johnny Wills

People should first prove that they ” deserve ” help. If you want to go to Germany, or come to US, or any other country, you are welcomed to do so. But first, learn the language. Second, apply through the legal and proper channels. Third, have something to offer the country you want to stay in, in exchange for it taking you in.
Thousands of educated, mostly secular Turkish, Eastern European, Iranian, Chinese, etc students are going to the EU states and are coming to the US every year to continue their education. All of them can at least speak fluent English, and are able to adapt and live according to the social norms and rules of our societies.
But Most of these immigrants who are flooding the EU at the moment, are uneducated, deeply religious, and without anything useful ( education, skill, etc ) to offer. Why the he** would you want to let them in dear Angela Merkel ? Deport them all, secure the Turkish straits and Mediterranean sea, and don’t let them get anywhere near the EU.

Posted on 8/27/15 | 4:04 PM CEST

ironwoker

She’s good and I mean really good at imposing and maintaining (with all her political conservatives proxies ) austerity for a long period of time upon other nations. Planning-Executing-Benefiting. So far everything worked according to the “plan”, until recently. I just don’t see her handling refugees, millions of them. She’s not capable of compassion in first place. Europe need a “special situation command center” to be able to handle refugees problem effectively, but Merkel totally hate to loose grip over Europe regardless.

Posted on 8/27/15 | 8:49 PM CEST

Marcel

Only white progressives from white upper class neighbourhoods are for this mass migration. Because they aren’t confronted in their neighbourhoods with the reality of hordes of islamic extremists and benefits claimants pretending to be refugees.

Posted on 8/28/15 | 10:34 AM CEST

alan.ritchie

800,000 this year, how many next year when Ukraine blows up again & Junker offers visa-free travel, , Syria continues to disintegrate, Turkey begins to implode……1,500,000?

No-one seems to be thinking beyond knee-jerk reactions to the latest clutch of deaths whether at sea or on the Austro-Hungarian border